From the course: Additive Manufacturing for Business

Industry examples from path I: Tooling and product development

From the course: Additive Manufacturing for Business

Start my 1-month free trial

Industry examples from path I: Tooling and product development

“

- Let's begin with path one, stasis, from our additive manufacturing framework. In this quadrant, we found the most common applications of additive manufacturing for these three, if not all industries. The focus here is on improved performance through cost and risk reduction and the acceleration of product development lead times. We see this issue of accelerated development lead times, as well as the attempt to improve alignment with customer needs, in the MedTech industry. For example, we know of a company called Orchid Design that uses additive manufacturing for printing of high-resolution prototypes in-house. This allows the company to increase the quality and manufacturability of its designs, as well as to reduce the development timeline, enabling Orchid to drive more revenue and increase repeat business. We also see the opportunity to accelerate developmental lead times and improve fit with customer demands in aerospace and defense. For example, NASA used 70 additively manufactured parts, such as flame retardant vents, camera mounts, and housings for test vehicles on its Mars Rover program. We also see the application of additive manufacturing to tooling in aerospace and defense. For example, taking the opportunity to drive cost and time from the preparation of tooling. A repairs company we know of produces the majority of its tools using additive manufacturing, leading to overall cost savings of 79% and lead time reductions of 96% when compared with traditional methods. The relatively common theme of accelerated developmental lead times and better matching customer demands also appears in automotive, along with other opportunities to improve performance. Additive manufacturing is well established as a rapid prototyping technology across both suppliers and original equipment manufacturers. We also see tooling impacts across automotive. We know of an engine prototyping application that can produce prototypes in just four days at a cost of $3,000. The alternative cost was as much as $500,000 for a single prototype using traditional methods. In addition, we know of an automaker that uses additive manufacturing to create customized hand tools for individuals. These tools have better ergonomics, are 72% lighter, and 58% cheaper to use.

Contents